Current mobile communication networks, such as networks operating according to the GSM standard (GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication), offer only limited possibilities for transmitting textual data. Thus, for example, only text messages having up to 160 characters can be transmitted via the SMS (Short Message Service). The cost of sending text messages of this type has to be born by the sender of the data.
In the future, the transmission of multimedia data, particularly images or films with or without audio, also will be possible. The successors to the essentially voice/text-based telecommunications systems, such as those defined by the GSM standard, for example, are seen in multimedia-capable mobile communication systems, such as those defined by the UMTS standard (UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). The UMTS or GPRS standard envisions providing, for example, in addition to the current SMS, a so-called MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) for transmitting messages may include multimedia contents, also referred to as “Multimedia Messages” (MMs). Formatted text, images, videos and films with and without audio also can be transmitted in this way. The restriction to a message length of 160 characters present in the SMS does not apply.
According to the state of the art, the MMS can be implemented by way of the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), for example. For the purposes of bridging the air interface between an MMS-enabled terminal, such as a corresponding mobile phone, and the “WAP Gateway” on the network side, the employment of the WAP-WSP (WSP: Wireless. Session Protocol) [6] can be used according to [2].
For purposes of the internal management of such MMS-over-WAP transmissions, use is made of so-called “header fields”, that is to say, fields placed in advance of the actual multimedia message (MM) which can contain items of information concerning origin, transmission time, file size and other details, for example.
If the MMS is implemented by way of the WAP in a mobile communication network, at least one MMS connection unit or MM switching arrangement is provided within the network which takes over the handling of the MMs in that mobile communication network. This includes, for example, the switching of the MMs between the sender and the recipient and the intermediate storage of the MMs.
In this respect, the sender first sends a message (MM) to the MMS connection unit, whereby the sender or the MMS connection unit can confer a period of validity on the message, after the expiration of which the corresponding MM can no longer be downloaded from the MMS connection unit by the recipient. The recipient receives the item of information concerning the period of validity until the expiration of the MM together with the MMS recipient notification which is sent to the recipient or the receiving MMS user application by the MMS connection unit.
A number of statuses which describe the transmission status of a multimedia message (MM) is known from the MMS specification [2, 5]. Various statuses can indicate, for example, whether an MM has been transmitted successfully (status: “Retrieved”), whether the MM has been rejected by the recipient (status: “Rejected”), whether the recipient has received the notification concerning the arrival of the MM in its mailbox and can download the message later (status: “Deferred”), whether the recipient has been able to recognize the MM (status: “Unrecognized”) and whether the recipient has not downloaded the MM within a definable period of validity and therefore received it in full (status: “Expired”).
These statuses can be sent to the first telecommunications apparatus by the switching arrangement in response to a request for a transmission status message. These messages can be sent either following an acknowledged recipient notification message, following the successful delivery of an MM or following the expiration of the period of validity of the MM.
If the sender of an MM receives the requested MMS transmission status message relating to a message which it has sent, such sender cannot decide in the event of the received status “expired,” for example, whether the recipient has intentionally not downloaded the sent MM from the MMS connection unit or whether the recipient was just not available within the period of validity of the MM and therefore the MM could not be delivered. The sender therefore has no way of deciding whether it should possibly send the corresponding MM again with an increased period of validity so that the MM can reach the recipient.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to offer the transmitter or sender of data, particularly of a multimedia message (MM), a more detailed item of information concerning the deliverability of the data which it has sent.